I read an article this week titled The 3 Personal Development Goals Successful People Pursue Habitually.The second point in the piece really made an impression on me. “Successful people are self-aware on multiple levels.” To sum up the section it stated that successful people know how much sleep they require, when they need to rest, what to eat to allow their bodies to operate at prime levels and even the environments that support their creativity or productivity. Check out the full article to read all three points.

Intentional Self-Awareness

I’ve sometimes been intentional in understanding myself especially emotionally. But when it comes to the list above, I think I’ve more often than not stumbled onto these personal insights.

Sleep is one of the few aspects of myself from the list that I can readily answer. I need exactly eight hours of sleep to be the best Nicole possible. I know it’s the stereotypical number, but it’s true for me. I also need to get those eight hours by going to bed somewhere between 9:15pm (no earlier) and 10:30pm (no later). I can be plain mean with only 6 hours of sleep and believe it or not 9 or 10 hours induces an unattractive bout of laziness.

An area of self-awareness that I would really like to delve deeper into is understanding the physical environment that invokes the most creativity. What I do know is that it has to include music. Nothing loud or overwhelming, music is the match to the kerosene soaked fuse in my mind just waiting to be lit.

To thine own self be true – but first you have to know yourself. How can you be the best version of yourself if you don’t know what actually triggers your best? It’s time to find those triggers and parameters.

Growth Goal

Choose one or two areas in which you want to study yourself this week. You’ll need to add and remove variables and write down how you feel with each new change.

Examples:

Sleep: Interested in knowing what is your optimal sleep regimen? Each night try to sleep at different lengths or go to bed at varying times. Keep a journal and write down each day how you feel and what your sleep pattern was in order to discover what works best for you.

Creativity: Is your creativity affected by time or location? I work from home so I could implement this exercise by working in different rooms to see if creativity is triggered from environmental changes. You could also try doing creative activities at different times of the day to discern if that has a noticeable effect.

Other suggestions include studying what you eat or understanding what helps to increase your productivity, increase focus, or reduce stress.